Doctor Who - The Android Invasion Review

The Android Invasion aired 40 years ago from November 22 to December 13.  See what we thought about this classic Doctor Who Adventure from 1975.

Doctor Who:
The Android Invasion
By Terry Nation

“Is that finger loaded?”

The Doctor and Sarah still trying to get back to Earth and UNIT headquarters end up on what appears to be Earth.  Smells like Earth, feels like Earth and definitely looks like Earth but something just doesn’t seem right. After watching a UNIT soldier running off a cliff and falling to his death the two travelers get shot at.  The Doctor and Sarah make their way to a village called Devesham which happens to be near a Space Defense Station.  Everything about Devesham seems out of the ordinary also.  The pub has freshly minted money, a brand new dart board and telephones that do not work.

Then the villagers show up and they are a strange lot.  They do not like strangers in their village and do not treat The Doctor and Sarah all that kindly.  Then the UNIT soldier who apparently killed himself shows up at the pub very much alive.   This does get The Doctor thinking that they are definitely not on Earth and there is something very much wrong with this village.  It appears they are on a planet made by the Kraals I which they are using to practice for an invasion of Earth. An invasion that they will use their androids to achieve unless The Doctor and Sarah can find a way of warning Earth and stopping the Kraals.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Destiny of the Daleks

Doctor Who: 

Destiny of the Daleks 

By Terry Nation

“If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us?”

The Doctor is surprised to see that Romana has regenerated into the image of Princess Astra.  He says she can’t be like that and tells her to try again.   She tries a whole bunch of different personas but none of them fly.  She finally decides on looking like Princess Astra and The Doctor reluctantly agrees.   They land on a planet that the randomizer has chosen. The Doctor installed the randomizer to prevent The Black Guardian from finding them.

They land on a planet that The Doctor seems to find familiar. All rocky and looks like a quarry The Doctor and Romana go investigating but earth tremors appear to be happening and The Doctor gets trapped under a rock.  Romana tries to go back to the TARDIS to get K – 9 to help get him out.   The Doctor is soon freed by a group of disco dressed robots called The Movellians.  They take The Doctor back to their ship where they tell him that he is on Skaro. 

Romana gets back and finds The Doctor gone and goes looking for him when she falls down a shaft.  She is quickly frightened as the tremors start up again and this time the Daleks burst through the wall and quickly capture her and put her in a slave detail removing rocks.  The Doctor asks the Movellians why they are on Skaro and they say they are here to fight the Daleks and stop them from getting to their creator.  The Doctor soon realizes that Davros is still alive and that is bad news for everyone in the universe if he is reunited with The Daleks.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Death to the Daleks by @Blackadder345

Doctor Who: 

Death to The Daleks 

By Terry Nation 

Review By Will Barber

The Doctor: It's rather a pity, in a way...now the universe is down to 699 wonders.

An energy drain makes uneasy allies of the Third Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, a Marine Space Corps expedition and a squadron of Daleks.  They are trapped on the planet Exxilon with its hostile natives. The key to escape lies at the heart of a powerful and mysterious lost city but only after a series of deadly traps.

Death to the Daleks is a serial about death and dying.  It starts off when the TARDIS loses power and crashes. Indeed, it seems like the TARDIS is dead. Whether it is the Exillions, the Daleks, or the city itself, the plot echoes the theme of the end of life and the beginning of another, possibly reflecting the fact that this was one of the last times that we would enjoy The Third Doctor.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Planet of the Daleks

Doctor Who:

Planet of the Daleks

By Terry Nation

“The signal we intercepted was to Dalek Supreme Command. It stated that the force assembled on Spiridon was now complete. It gave their numbers. Well, somewhere on this planet there are ten thousand Daleks!”

After being wounded by the Master on the Ogrons planet the Time Lords send The Doctor and Jo to Spiridon after they received The Doctor’s message.  The Doctor lies down to heal up and tells Jo if anything happens to record it in the log.  Jo thinking that The Doctor needs medical help goes out of the TARDIS in search for someone to help her.  She runs across a spaceship that appears to have been abandon when she encounters a group of Thals.  The Thals decide to help her out and head for the TARDIS to get The Doctor but tell her to stay at the ship.  

The Thals find The Doctor and tell him they are on a mission.  They need to stop the Daleks from gaining the ability to be invisible which they can get from the Spiridons who are native of the planet.  Plus there is a lot more going as The Daleks are developing a killer virus that will kill everything on Spidiron and the prospect that there are more than 10,000 Daleks in suspended animation that will be released against the universe in the plot to take over the universe.